March 1, 2017

The Honorable Governor, State of P.O. Box 94004 Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004

Dear Governor Edwards:

I am pleased to submit to you the enclosed Annual Report from the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana dated March 1, 2017. Submission of this report is a requirement of Act No. 679 and sums up “actions taken and progress made toward achieving the purposes and duties established for the council.”

Respectfully,

William Arceneaux, Ph.D. President

Cc: President John A. Alario, Jr. Speaker Taylor Barras Senator Dan “Blade” Moorish Representative Nancy Landry

ANNUAL REPORT COUNCIL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRENCH IN LOUISIANA (CODOFIL)

March 1, 2017

Governance

Board

All twenty-three seats on CODOFIL’s board are filled. The most recent board meeting was held December 10, 2016.

Budget

CODOFIL’s Existing Operating Budget for FY16 was $609,286 ((maximum budget authority for collecting/spending funds) - not actual funding.

Staff

The CODOFIL staff is currently comprised of 5 people: a full-time executive director, a full-time communications director, a full-time education program consultant, a full-time cultural program coordinator, and a full-time administrative coordinator. This staffing level is adequate to address the agency’s mandates but may be in need of extra human resources to better fulfill CODOFIL’s mandates.

Office relocation

CODOFIL continues to rent temporary office space at Lafayette City-Parish government’s International Center. Renovation is underway at the former headquarters of CODOFIL at 217 West Main Street in Lafayette. Projected return to the old office is early 2018.

Legislative mandates

French Language Service Program/FrancoResponsable

 A CODOFIL FrancoResponsable Committee was established to assist CODOFIL staff in executing the FrancoResponsable mandate.  A “Prix French-Friendly” was established with Iberia Parish receiving the first award. Criteria for the award are: 1. Presence of a French Immersion program in the parish school system. (Workforce incubation.) 2. Number of French-speaking employees at parish tourism office (full-time, part-time, and volunteers). 3. Amount of French language information on tourism office’s web site. 4. Number of “French-friendly” establishments (products and services) in the parish.

This award is intended to encourage CVBs to aid in the collection of data on Francophone products and services in their parishes.

Education

French Immersion

CODOFIL continues to concentrate on growing French immersion programs for the benefit of all Louisiana stakeholders. Work is still in progress with regard to LDOE and CODOFIL’s vision to significantly expand French immersion throughout the state with a robust, uniform structure and with focus on career pathways.

For the 2016-17 school year, French immersion program totals were:

School districts: 10 Type 1 Charter: 1 Type 2 Charter: 3 Type 3 Charter: 1 Private School: 1 Schools (public/nonpublic): 30 Students: 4,500

CODOFIL assisted Pointe Coupee Parish establish a new immersion school for 2016.

CODOFIL continues to promote the advantages of immersion to local education leaders.

CODOFIL worked with LDOE in assisting school districts in meeting criteria to become “Certified Foreign Language Immersion Program” (as per RS 17:273.2).

CODOFIL began collaboration with LDOE for creating career paths in French for Louisiana students. Themes being explored are tourism, media production, and emergency preparedness/disaster prevention.

French as a Second Language

There were 102 Louisiana public schools in 12 parishes with a French as a Second Language program with a total of 15,987 students.

Parents

CODOFIL organized the Louisiana Parents for French Immersion group (LPFI), which represents French immersion communities throughout the state in an effort to build alliances and share with all of Louisiana’s French immersion communities.

Teachers

CODOFIL continues to recruit highly qualified teachers for Louisiana’s French immersion and French as a second language programs. This was done through continued cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) and our international partners (specifically, France and Belgium). Through the U.S. Department of State, CODOFIL sponsored 139 foreign associate teachers of French on J-1 visas to teach in French immersion and French as a second language, and administered 55 French teachers on the H-1B visa. In addition, CODOFIL processes and administers 58 Spanish teachers on J-1 visas. Foreign Associate Teachers are in more than 30 school systems throughout the state reaching more than 5,597 Louisiana students in immersion and approximately 15,987 students in Second Language Education. Cognizant of the needs per CODOFIL’s goals of expanding French immersion, the agency continues to actively recruit French teachers in . Special attention is given to retired French immersion teachers.

CODOFIL and the LDOE organized and held the annual 3-day orientation for new French Associate Teachers in Baton Rouge.

Career pathways/readiness

CODOFIL continues to build career pathways leveraging French for the military with the inclusion of French language components that could be leveraged for deployment to the Caribbean and/or Africa. The planned establishment of a Creole Language Learning Center is moving closer to becoming a reality and will become the centerpiece of an articulated program where bilingual students may be steered to careers in the military, humanitarian aid, etc.

CODOFIL increased collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) by exploring together ways to “jump start” career pathways by leveraging French in Louisiana. A dialogue was started with the Louisiana State Counselors Association to explore ways to promote post-secondary career pathways for students in immersion programs. Central to this initiative is engaging the high school guidance counselors and providing them with assistance in guiding students toward careers where French language skills are an advantage.

Visitations

CODOFIL education and scholarship staff specialists continue to regularly visit schools (K through post-secondary) throughout the state thus fulfilling the agency’s obligations with regard to teacher follow-up, immersion expansion and certification, scholarship promotion, and Escadrille candidate recruiting.

Professional development

CODOFIL continues to coordinate with LDOE in planning and carrying out professional development for Louisiana’s French teachers and administrators of French language programs.

Partners

The CODOFIL Consortium of Colleges and Universities continues to meet every spring and fall. This alliance of higher education institutions becomes more important with CODOFIL’s focus on developing Louisiana “homegrown” teachers of French (especially in immersion) and our focus on building French school-to-work platforms where the different schools and departments of the universities could create French language components to their programs, thus enabling French immersion alumni to increase professional opportunities with their French language skills. Dr. Dolliann Hurtig is the new Consortium president.

CODOFIL continues to participate in the important conversations and activities of the Louisiana Foreign Language Teachers Association (LFLTA).

CODOFIL partners with the French Embassy’s Cultural Affairs department and the Louisiana Consortium of Immersion Schools (LCIS) where all Louisiana students of French are now able to take the DELF (Diplôme d'études en langue française) as coordinated by the LCIS. A total of 333 Louisiana students took the DELF exam in 2016. The “DELF Prim and DELF Junior for Schools” are official certifications of language competency as determined by the French Ministry of Education. DELF testing allows for greater uniformity in our French Immersion programs and adds value to the state certification process for immersion programs. Also, students who achieve the B2 level of proficiency (the great majority of French immersion students do) are exempted from the language test on entry to any French university as well as for the business world.

International Relations

In October of 2016, CODOFIL, with the support of the Consulate General of France in Louisiana, facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the State of Louisiana and the French Overseas Departments of Martinique and Guadeloupe for developing and organizing partnership actions in the field of educational cooperation between institutions, educators and students of Louisiana and the French Antilles. The agreement was signed by the rectors of the Academies of Martinique and Guadeloupe, the Lieutenant-Governor of Louisiana, the Consul General of France, the Assistant-Superintendent of Education of Louisiana, the president of CODOFIL, and the president of the CODOFIL Consortium of Colleges and Universities.

In December of 2016, CODOFIL, with the support of the Consulate General of France in Louisiana, facilitated the renewal of the France-Louisiana Cooperation Accords 2016-2020. The Republic of France and the State of Louisiana have always maintained a direct relationship through the Consulate General (oldest French Consulate in the U.S.) since Louisiana became part of the United States of America in 1803. From the first France-Louisiana Cooperation Accords in 1969, the earliest teachers sent by France were French military personnel. Shortly after, Louisiana began welcoming professional educators from France. Today Louisiana classrooms benefit from the presence of some of France’s most highly qualified teachers. Throughout the years, tens of thousands of Louisiana students have benefitted from French classes supporting the re-appropriation of this heritage language. French Immersion programs are designed to create a Louisiana bilingual workforce for the 21st century. With this partnership, the State of Louisiana has gained recognition in leveraging its French heritage language locally, nationally and internationally.

The France-Louisiana Cooperation Accords were signed by:

Mrs. Nathalie Estival-Broadhurst, Minister-Counselor of France Honorable William H. Nungesser, Lieutenant-Governor of Louisiana

And witnessed by:

Mr. Gregor Trumel, Consul General of France in Louisiana Dr. William Arceneaux, President of the Council for the Development of French in LA Mrs. Erin Bendily, Assistant Superintendent of Education Dr. Dolliann Hurtig, President, CODOFIL Consortium of Louisiana Colleges & Universities

In December of 2016, CODOFIL, with the support of the Consulate General of France in Louisiana, facilitated the renewal of the Educational Partnership Agreement between Louisiana and the Academy of Rennes for the continued collaboration with the Escadrille Louisiane program. This program was initiated in Rennes, which is the Brittany region of France where many Acadians had originated; and as outlined in the France-Louisiana Cooperation Accords 2016-2020, the program is expanding into the French West Indies in Martinique and Guadeloupe. This teacher-training program is designed to help Louisiana build a cadre of native Louisiana French Language teachers for our French immersion programs. This agreement renewal with the Academy of Rennes was signed by the same Louisiana signatories of the France-Louisiana Cooperation Accords along with the Rector of the Academy of Rennes.

As a result of the CODOFIL-brokered bilateral agreement between the Louisiana State Legislature and the National Assembly, the Louisiana-Quebec Cooperation Conference was initiated. According to the MOU signed in 2015, the mission of the Conference is to establish a forum to enhance dialogue and reinforce the bonds of friendship between the parties. To this end, the Conference may propose initiatives or measures to develop a policy of cooperation within the limits of the parties' respective jurisdictions. The Conference is a permanent working group made up of representatives of each party. The Louisiana legislators created a “Quebec Section” as legislative counterparts to the Quebec lawmakers’ “Louisiana Section.” The members of Louisiana’s Quebec Section are:

Senator Eric Lafleur Senator Dan Claitor Senator Senator Senator Jonathan Perry Senator Senator Norby Chabert Senator Conrad Appel Rep. Mike Huval Rep. Vincent Pierre Rep. Jacques Montoucet Rep. Reid Falconer Rep. Bernard LeBas Rep. Jerry Gisclair Rep. Major Thibaut Rep. Tanner McGee

The first conference was held in May, 2016 when Quebec National Assembly president, Jacques Chagnon, led a delegation of Quebec legislators to Baton Rouge where, in light of future cooperation and collaboration, topics such as tourism, education, the environment, energy, economic development, and cultural affairs were discussed. The next Conference is slated in Quebec in the fall of 2017.

The CODOFIL-Caribbean initiative and the future Louisiana Creole language instruction program for the Louisiana National Guard (who is partnered with Haiti) moved forward when, at the invitation of the US Army Southern Command, CODOFIL sent a mission to Haiti in July of 2016. CODOFIL presented at a conference on “Preparedness and Response” held in Aquin, Haiti (sister city with New Iberia). The CODOFIL delegation was made up of the Mayor of Opelousas, a Zika virus expert from New Iberia, an educator and member of C.R.E.O.L.E., Inc., and the director of CODOFIL. The state agency’s specific interests in this very important initiative are:

• To grow our Louisiana French Immersion programs in light of the opportunities presented in the 21st century global economy where Louisiana Creole French could be incorporated into our French Immersion programs for the linguistic training of individuals who may become involved in activities in the Caribbean, particularly with Haiti. This would involve articulating French Immersion from elementary to middle school on through to high school where these bilingual students may enter Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) with Creole French as MOS. These students will then bring those language skills to the next level at university (ROTC) where they become Creole language specialists and future leaders of missions.

 CODOFIL and the French Consulate have established accords for exchanges between the French departments of Martinique and Guadeloupe. With respect to Louisiana’s Creole French connections, French Caribbean partnerships may be established in order to pool together the best educational resources for the teaching of Creole French to adults (as well as to children) for activities in the French West Indies (Haiti in particular).

• CODOFIL would like for this Haitian model to be applied to “French for Africa” where the Louisiana National Guard extends this linguistic competence for future partnerships with any of the 29 African nations where French is an official language (National Guard State Partnership Program).

CODOFIL collaborated with organizers of the Francophone and Francophile Cities Network Reseau who held their second conference in Lafayette.

Scholarships

A total of 65 scholarships were offered by CODOFIL’s international partners (France, Canada and Belgium), La Fondation Louisiane, and CODOFIL (Escadrille program) for a combined value of $284,912.

CODOFIL continues to coordinate the administration of scholarships with the Louisiana Association of High School French Clubs (ALCFES). These students are the next generation of Louisiana Francophones with the great majority coming from outside the immersion setting but still interested and motivated to explore opportunities using French in Louisiana. Scholarship coordination continues with the Louisiana Foreign Language Teachers Association and the CODOFIL Consortium of Colleges and Universities serving our teachers and university student stakeholders.

Escadrille

CODOFIL worked to expand the French-language workforce in Louisiana through the “Escadrille Louisiane” initiative, a Master’s degree program envisioned to create Louisiana teachers in and of French for immersion and French as a second language educational environment. This international partnership was piloted in FY11 with 10 participants and anchored by Centenary College in Shreveport and the Université de Rennes in Brittany, France. CODOFIL has successfully concluded an agreement with the Université des Antilles and the Academiés of Martinique and Guadeloupe as new partners in the expansion of Escadrille thus making this French immersion teacher training program even more accessible to Louisiana budding teachers. The first Escadrille participant in Martinique is currently there for the 2016-2017 academic year.

Culture, Tourism and Communications

Under the auspices of the Office of Cultural Development, CODOFIL participated in the Lieutenant-Governor’s “Culture Connections” in Baton Rouge. Focus was on creative place making. In conjunction with the Culture Connection Awards, CODOFIL organized the “Prix de la Franco-Responsabilité,” which is awarded to an individual or organization that works toward the creation of an eco-system that allows for the development of French in the economic, educational, cultural, and professional sectors and in which Louisiana’s French and Creole speakers are valorized in their linguistic and cultural identity. The 2016 award went to Pete Bergeron, long time French radio DJ at KRVS.

Bilingual signage

The CODOFIL Bilingual Signage Task Force continues to meet with community leaders to support municipal projects for establishing signage in French. Meetings were held with the mayors of Breaux Bridge and Lafayette for these purposes.

CODOFIL participated in the Office of Cultural Development’s “Culture 2020” where we presented projects that take advantage of the emerging Francophone market in Louisiana, for both visitors from French speaking countries and our citizens who wish to experience French in their lives as much as possible.

CODOFIL continued collaboration with Quebec’s Ministry of International Relations who sponsored three projects ($20,000) in theater and circus performances (New Orleans) and a youth group (Lafayette)

CODOFIL continued collaboration with Quebec’s Office of International Youth (LOJIQ) who provided one francophone cultural intern in St. Martinville and two in Arnaudville.

CODOFIL provided technical assistance and support to “La Semaine Française” d’Arnaudville, a multi-faceted, international cultural economy/creative place making initiative. This event is held at NuNu’s Art and Culture Collective of Arnaudville and is sponsored by the French Consulate. Many activities are held in an atmosphere of exchange with CODOFIL representing the State’s francophone affairs.

CODOFIL continues to work with the project to convert Arnaudville’s vacant St. Luke Hospital into a center for French immersion. CODOFIL’s presence on the steering committee as well as St. Martin and St. Landry parish government meetings bring the important project closer to fruition.

CODOFIL assisted French immersion school programs in producing content with Radio- Jeunesse, radio production equipment provided by the Centre de la Francophonie des Ameriques. Radio-Jeunesse is a multi-media platform where Louisiana French content can be produced throughout our communities, especially in the school systems. This content will be shared with Louisiana public, community and access television and radio.

CODOFIL continues to collaborate with the international association « Shackles of Memory » and its TOSTEM program of tourism around the trans-Atlantic slave trade sites with those memories.

CODOFIL had a presence at Les Festivals Acadiens et Créoles with a tent thus creating a “Francophone space” where Louisiana French was celebrated.

CODOFIL began discussions with Festival International de Louisiane for the creation of an on festival site “espace francophone” (French space) for CODOFIL and partners.

CODOFIL continues to network with Tourism for building models of francophone cultural tourism. Projects being explored are a Louisiana presence at the Stampede and the twinning of festivals.

CODOFIL - continued outreach to the Louisiana francophone community via our web site and social media:

 Facebook page: 7,500 followers (up 1,500 from 2015)  Twitter: 800 followers (up 100)  Instagram: 280 followers  YouTube: 38 subscribers (up from zero)  Press releases: nine

CODOFIL completed production of a Public Service Announcement designed to encourage Louisiana youth to actively engage in millennial French Louisiana. The PSA airs regularly.

CODOFIL established a 50th Anniversary Committee. Discussions are underway for various related projects including a traveling exhibit, etc.

CODOFIL continued to provide technical support and assistance to numerous francophone journalists, media outlets, researchers, etc., about Louisiana’s diverse French and Creole- speaking reality. As the State Agency for Francophone Affairs, CODOFIL aims to present the most accurate message of Louisiana French reality to an interested international public.